Vehicle direction-indicator.



A. W. YOUNGKVIST. VEHICLE DIRECTION INDICATOR.

APPLICATION FILED DEC.23I I9I3.

Patented May 18, 1915.

2 SHEETS-SHEET I.

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VEHICLE DIRECTIONINDICATOR.

APPLICATION HLED 0m23.191s.

lfm I Patented May 18, 1915, l

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2f 'AMANBUS W. YUNGKVST, 0E" 'DULU'EE1 MNNESOT.

vnnienn nirtnc'rioii-innreii'ron aspiramos eieubeeemtr ee, ieia To alifwiom it may concern:

Be it knownkthat l, Ardennes* Warren) YoUNGirv'isr, a citizen or" the United States, residing. at Duluth, in the county of St.

' Ln-is and State oi Minnesota, have invented certain new and useful improvements in `Vehicle "Direction-indicators; and l do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description or' the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art .to which it appertains to make and use the saine. 4

rlhe primary object ci' this invention is to provide a direction"ndicator :for vehicles, such as automobiles, to indicate tol pedestrians and drivers of other vehicles, the direction in which the machine is going to turn.

Another and more speciiic object of the invention is to provide a direction indicator of this nature having a light casing provided with an outer wall 'formed with a plurality ot' openings through which the light may shine und a slidable shutter controlle by the steering rod to open and close the openings.

Another object of this invention is to provide in a direction indicator oi'this type, a light casing having a wall formed with three alined openings, a sliding shutter to open and close the end openings and a hinged plate controlled independently of the shutter to open and close the central opening.

A further object of the invention is to provide in combination with a direction indicator a license plate holder, the light box oi the indicator being so constructed as to illuminate the lighting plate.

lVith these and other objects `in view as will become more appar ent as the descrip tion proceeds, the invention consists in certain novel features ol' construction, combination and arrangement oil partsas will be hereina iter more telly described and claimed.

For a complete understanding ci my invention reference is to be had to the follow,- ing description and accompanying draw- Figure l is a perspective view ot inyimproved direction indicator, Fig. 2 is a top plan view thereof, with .the cover removed, Fig. 3 is a vertical transverse sectional view through the center ci the indicator, Fig. d is a side elevation of the sliding shutter and hinged cover plate, with a portion of the' iiecieetjea o Letters lateiit.

Patented May iid. ibid..

aiutino. scarse. v casing shown by dotted lines, Fig. 5 is a i'ragmentary sectional viewV taken on the plane'of line 5-5 of Fig. 2, and Fig. 6 is a somewhat diagrammatic view, showing how two indicators, one at the front et the vehicle and the other at the rear thereof may be simultaneously operated by a movement of the steering rod.

Referring in detail to the drawings by numerals, 1 designates, as an entirety, the casing of my improved direction. indicator, said casing .being divided into air upper light compartment 2 and a lower compartment 3, by a horizontal 'wall fi.

5 indicates the rear wall of the two compertinents, G the side walls thereof, 7 the front wall oi.z the light compartment and 8 the cover or top of said compartment, said cover being slidably connected to the rear wall 5 by the tongue and groove connection, indicated by, the numeral 9. The wall, which forms the two compartments, is of a less width than the light compartment 2, and the space between the outer edge of this wall and the lower edge of the wall is covered by a glass plate 10 which is inclined downwardly and rearwardly.

rhe front Wall 7 of the light compartment is provided with the alined openings ll, l2 and'l3, t e end openings being here shown of a triangular shape and the central openings being diamond shaped. The glassl 11i which covers the openings ll and 13 is preferably plain., whereas the glass l5 which covers the central opening l2 is preferably colored green. As shown in Fig. 5, a plate ot colored glass 16 is positioned behind each of the end openings ll and l2 so that a light shining through these openings will be visible in the Vday time.

rlhe openings il and 13 are normally closed by a sliding shutter 17 in the 'form oi a rectangular plate which is held in engagement with the inner Yfalce of the wall 7 by the channel strips 1S. Referring to 1iiig'. e, it will be seen that this plate 'is )ust long enough to cover simultaneously both of the end openings and ie provided with a central shape and of a opening i9, rectangular in suitable size.

To provide tor a reeiprocatory movement of the shutter i7, l provide a ratchet bar 9,0 secured to the inner face or the shutter adjacent the upper edge thereof but slightly below the overlapping portions of the channel strips 18. This bar is engaged bythe. toothed arcuate end-2]. of' a 'horizontal' pivoted arm 22 connected to a vertical shaftv 23. This shaft extends vertically through" the casing 1 being journaled through a bracket 24, the wall 4 and the wall 2,'5which formsu the bottom of the compartment 3. A cross bar 26 is rigidly secured centrally of its ends to the bottom of the shaft 23 and is about' equal in lengthlto the length of the casing 1. The bar is secured to the shaft by a nut 27 and a cotter pin 28. Itwwill be' evident that an oscillation of the cross bar J6 will turn the shaft 23 which will actuate the arm 22 and cause the shutter 17 to be shifted longitudinally.

Coming now to the means which I employ for covering the opening 12, 28 designates a plate hingedly secured at its upper edge' to a bar 29 supported on the wall 7 above the opening 12 and within the opening 19 formed in the shutter 17. The bar is of a less length than the opening 19 to allow the shutter to move sufficiently in either direction to properly uncover thel openings 11 and 13. A spring 30 secured at one end to the bar 29 and bearing at its other end against the plate 28 holds said plate normally in its operative position. The plate may be swung upwardly to allow light to shine through theopening 12 by means of a flexible member 31 connected at one end to an ear 32 formed upon lthe inner side of, the plate and running around pulleys 33 and 34, the former being positioned in the compartment 2 to the rear and above the plate 28', and the latter being secured in the wall 5 near the lower end of the compartment 3. This flexible member extends to Within easy reach of the driver and when pulled will' raise the hinged plate. A relector 35 is positioned within the compartment 3 behind the openings formed in the front wall thereof and will deflect the light rays coming from the lamp 3G through the openings 11, 12 and 13. Thisreiector is formed with openings'to accommodate the flexible member 3L and the shaft 23, as clearly shown in Fig. 3. It will be noted that the reflector consists of a curved plate secured at its lower edge to the wall 5 and supported adjacent its forward upper edge by a hanger or link 37.

The compartment 3, which contains the batteries 38 for the lamp 36, is closed by a frame 39 hingedly scoured to the bottom 25 and iitting Within the open side of the compartment somewhat in the manner of a door. This frame contains a glass plate 40, a sign 41 and a backing 42 to which the sign is, attached. It will be evident that the back' ing and sign may be easily and quickly removed which greatly facilitates an interchange of license plates.

.In use, my improved direction indicator is y improved indicator turn wardly extending arms 46 carried by the. desired, a second in dicator may be secured to the'front of the `vesteering rod 47. If

hicle and actuated by connections 48 secured 1n suitable openings in the ends of the cross bar 26 of the front indicator and tothe cross barvof the rear indicator, as clearly shown in Fig. 6.

In operation, when the vehicle is turned to the right for instance, the steering rod 47 will be shifted to the left, causing the cross bar 26 of the rear indicator to swin so'astol partiallyrotate the shaft 23, causing the son arm 22 to shift the shutter 17 to the left and.'

uncover the opening 13, whereby the driver.` of a following vehicle will be warned ofa.;

vehiclein ques-vv change of direction of the tion.' Should a vehicle equipped" with my. to the. y'lef-t, the shutter 17 will be shifted tofthdrightand uncover the opening 11. Whenl it desired to signal that the vehicle is going to stop,- the hingedl plate 28. is raised by upon the connection 31, allowin light Ato shine through the opening 12. It observed that the hinged plate 28 in no wise interferes with the proper movement of the shutter 17 and it is also desired to direct attention to the fact that light shining downwardly through the plate 10 will sufiu ciently illuminate the license plate carried in the frame 39.

While I have shown and described the preferred embodiment of my invention, it will be understood that minor changes in construction, combination and arrangement of parts may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. as claimed.

Having claim.:-

1. In a direction indicator for vehicles, a light casing having three openingsformed in the front wall thereof, a shutter slidable against the interior of said front wall to normally close the end. openings, a rack bar carried by said shutt r, a rotatable shaft, means for rotating said shaft and an arm rigidly secured to the shaft formed with teeth for engagement with the rack bar, a rotation of the shaft causing the arm to move the shutter longitudinally. l y 2. In a direction indicator for vehicles, a light casing having a front wall formed with three alined openings, a shutter slid-` ably secured to the inner face of said front wall of sulicient size to simultaneously close the end opening, means ,for moving said thus described my invention, I

shutter longitudinally to uncover the endv opening, the shutter being formed with a a v pull willk be @einmal opening? L pa hngec to sai from. mail and swinging within the opening in the shuter 'to des@ the sent' opening in the iront wim, and means ilxdependent of the shute' operating means im swinging 'said plaie to amcwar he Waning h@ freut Wa 

